In NYC, New Yorkers had the privilege to kick Bush’s ass . If you had the chance to kick someone’s ass in Kuwait, who’s ass (or asses) would you like it to be? And please stay away from the premises of ilthat elameeriya (the Amir), it’s against our constitution 😉

Addiction to cigarettes is nothing but habits that we invented
We made it the morning eye-opener, with coffee and newspapers
And what a better delight could there be
After devouring meals, or with a glass of wine!

Or better yet
After a sensual dose of you!

Yet, we all know, it’s a bad habit
And habits are hard to conquer, but not impossible
So my mission in the matrixes of the impossible
Is to redraw action plans

In an effort to make it possible
To conquer my addiction to you

I will stop my morning coffee
Tear the newspapers, may be to use for cleaning windows
I will divide my meals and strike deals with gym machines
I will shatter that crystal into pieces to let loose its blood

But tell me how, on the name of the tenth star, could I ever stop
Making love to you!

As usual; before any Christian religious occasion, Islamists blow their warning horns; be ware not to fall in the traps of the crusaders, who are cunningly dragging you to embrace their tampered faith with love cliché. And Valentine to Islamists is the biggest threat of them all. It is the occasion for love. Matters of heart are not very easy to handle.

My junk mail is usually loaded with e-mails from Islamists, but last week’s mail surpassed its previous ones in number. Most of which carried warnings about the idea behind Valentine. Some others like this one carried some innovative ideas, throwing competitions for the best banner designs that exposes the viciousness of Valentine occasion:

Now the question that comes to mind is; why Moslems are so frightened by anything attributed to Christianity? Especially Valentine? And do they have any base for their fear?

Trying to find answers to at least the last part of that question; I first had to examine the origin of valentine.
And here is what Wikipedia has to say about this day:

“Saint Valentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day is on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine’s cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine’s Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.”here is more

But the celebration of this day goes beyond that date. Let’s look a little further into the origin, from Wikipedia again:

“On the ancient Athens calendar, the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.

In Ancient Rome, February 15 was Lupercalia. Plutarch wrote:
Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.

The word Lupercalia comes from lupus, or wolf, so the holiday may be connected with the legendary wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning “Juno the purifier” or “the chaste Juno,” was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia. Some historians argue that Candlemas (then held on February 14, later moved to February 2) was promoted as its replacement, but this feast was already being celebrated in Jerusalem by AD 381. The pope also declared in 496 that the feast of St. Valentine would be on February 14.”

Sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera? But who is Zeus? And who is Hera.

Zeus was the ancient Greek “God of Gods”. Astrological books of the medieval epoch depicted Him as the powerful, Justus and omniscient God, in the form of man associated with weather; usually he carries a thunderbolt. and Hera “the Goddess of marriage”, who regained her virginity each February to prepare herself to be married off to Zeus every year. Zeus was also identified with Jupiter; the Roman’s God.

We also learn from Wikipedia:

“The planet Jupiter has been known since ancient times and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. The Romans named the planet after the Roman god Jupiter (also called Jove).”

And out of curiosity; what does Jupiter or Jove mean?

From Wikipedia:

“Jupiter is a vocative compound derived from archaic Latin Iovis and pater (Latin for father), this was also used as the nominative case. Jove is an English formation based on Iov-, the stem of oblique cases of the Latin name (accusative Iovem, genitive Iovis, dative Iovi and ablative Iove – an irregular declension). Linguistic studies identify his name as deriving from the Indo-European compound *dyēus- pəter- (“O Father God”)….

So in a nutshell; February is the month of marraige of planet Jupiter to the Goddess of marriage; whatever the astrological interpertation of that may be. In other words; it’s all about astrology.

Ok, now I’ll get to the root of the question again; do Muslims have any base for their fear of Valentine?

Not really, February, as we saw from the above, was the month of ancient’s love since the Roman and Greek times, and may be even before that. Christian clerics only Christianized the ritual, just like Moslems who islamized the pagan rituals of Haj bait Allah from their pagan ancestors (I know, jumla dasha 3arth, but I had to spit it out :p)

And here I end my journey to conclude that Valentine is not a Christian celebration, nor it is about paganism, it’s all about astrology. The Roman God’s attributes were linked to that of planets. Jupiter is also believed to have had its significance in many other cultures including Hinduism, also based on astrology. So Muslims don’t have to worry about the Crusaders, they have to watch out for the stars.

Islamists can never deprive masses of celebrating love, and that’s why Valentine is their scarecrow.

Now if you believe in astrology you have to believe in February being the month of love; whether that was named Valentine or Louis Vuitton. But if you are like me who does not believe in astrology, yet, can’t resist the temptation of love, then just feel the positive vibration this day can bring to the world as long as it is associated with love, be it pagan or not.

Have a happy Valentine you all, and may the stars of love shine within you, but be ware of their powers over your pockets ;D

I’m finally back, still tiered and jet-lagged. Lufthansa’s small seats and full flights had done a good job in keeping me alert in a middle seat for almost 17 flight hours.
But I had promised myself that I would not complain when I get back home, and so I won’t.

The difference between the last time I lived in the States and now is enormous, the change is drastic towards a more civilized, free, secular, modern society. While comparing Kuwait at the time I first left to live in the States and now, is like comparing Paris to Afghanistan.
But I had promised myself that I would not complain when I get back home, and so I won’t.

Kuwait greeted me with dust at the very first hello, and when I reached home, the electricity was gone. Three stories up I had to take, on foot and suitcases in hand, in the pitch of the dark with only mobile lights to lead the way. But thanks to the loads of candles I carry around in the apartment, the place was turned into a monk’s temple in no time, laden with incense. It compensated for the hot bath I needed so bad. The electricity came back the next day at 10:30AM, after calling and begging the damn ministry.
But I had promised myself that I would not complain when I get back home, and so I won’t.

And now that I’m trying to get my breath back, I look through the Net to get some sites I bookmarked while I was in the States, some scientific ones, and was surprised to see them blocked under Islamic banners, while they have nothing to do with Islam, well not directly I presume!!!! Then I heard this news. Can any one see how important this issue is, especially to us bloggers? The ones who live by the written words on the Net? I don’t want to go through liberalism and freedom of speech or what have you of the words we utter all the time, yet we don’t know what they really mean. Let me ask you a question, what would be your feeling if your blog vanished all of a sudden because you said something that did not please someone else? This is exactly what is happening now in Kuwait.
But I had promised myself that I would not complain when I get back home, and so I won’t.

Kolshi mako

An update for my non-Arabic readers :

The Ministry of Communication provides the Internet service in Kuwait. The two main routers of this service to the customer are owned mainly to a single, most influential family in Kuwait. Those companies filter the stream of information on the Net in order to control the type of information allowed to be accessed by the residents of Kuwait. Those companies though, do not have the right to decide what information should be passed and what should be blocked, this is the job of the ministry of Communication, and they have to get a written permission to be able to ban any site (theoretically speaking)
But what is happening today is different. Both companies are taking the liability to block whatever site they don’t feel comfortable with. And the evidence is my own blog that disappeared last summer, in a bit over 12 hours of posting, when I wrote an Article about MP Marzooq Alghanim (from the family that ownes both companies) who was running for the parliament at the time. They did not unblock my blog till about 14 hours latter when a lot of bloggers copy-pasted my article and some translated it to Arabic, and was in no time like a cancer that had spread all over the Net, even in e-mails.
Now pay attention that I posted that Article just before going to bed, woke up around ten thirty AM, opened the Net, and my blog was gone. Now when did those people have time to get the permission from the Ministry of Communication to block my blog? (Realistically speaking)
Those companies did the same with a Kuwaiti forum that is directed by a group of liberalist, and upon blocking the forum for the second time, it got attacked by an Islamist hacker who is freely roaming other sites and forums and bragging about his accomplishment. He is believed to be a Saudi belonging to a network of hackers, in other words; gangsters. But is this a coincidence? I mean blocking by the company and hacking by the gangsters? Or are there other issues cooking under the surface? There are a lot of speculations, but I would not go through that because they are only speculations.
And after this forum, another one got hacked, then another…. It seems that Islamists are used in some very ugly political game. But as I said before it’s only speculation. But I don’t think a company that blocks any site without a written permission from the Ministry of Communication should go without questioning or may be taken to court.
This is a link to both articles I posted in case you are interested.